So how solid is the M1 Mac Mini?

[Sonoran49]

I have enjoyed reading these posts and threads about the Mini and I have learned a lot. I realize that many posts are asking for help with issues people are having with their Mini's, monitors, etc. That's why this forum exists.

I am looking to replace my 2011 Imac with an M1 Mini and a 27" monitor because I'm retired and my needs are pretty simple now. I will start out with a wired keyboard and mouse ( since I have them already) and just the 27" monitor. I will probably go for the 8Gb/512Gb version. For a basic setup is the current crop of M1 Mini's reliable? I appreciate your comments.

 

[Micky Do]

My M1 Mini (8GB RAM / 1TB SSD) works fine, slotted in a couple of months ago to replace my old 2009 Mac Mini, using most of the same peripherals..... HP 24" 1080P monitor (would replace it with a 27" 4k Dell or similar if I get back into doing more photography) wired Apple keyboard and basic Logitech wireless mouse. The Bose speakers sound a bit more mellow, and need the volume turned up a little. Two hubs now (one USB 2 previously), one connected to a USB3 port for permanent connections (webcam, UPS monitor, Time Machine HDD etc) and one connected to a USB C port for temporary connections (DVD drive, thumb drive etc, SD card etc).

Used Migration Assistant to migrate from the Time Machine HDD I was using with the 2009 Mac Mini. It was done quite quickly, and mostly OK except for Photos. Some photos, mostly older ones, have places but no image, and almost all of the Faces data has not migrated for some reason. Mostly backed up on an external HDD when I was running out of space onboard, along with archives I deleted from the on board library, I'll have to sort that out.

Office for Mac did not migrate..... Could get by without it, but better to have Word for some work that I do, so I stumped up to Microsoft for that. Works better than the version I had on the old Mac Mini (which didn't open Thai script for some reason.... Pages did) so that's a plus, but in general I still prefer Pages.

Other than the hiccup with Photos, I have had no issues, and I expect it to remain as reliable as my previous two mac Minis, the 2005 Original (replaced rather than repair when the HDD failed) and the 2009 (still with the original HDD, albeit rather full, and outdated MacOS). I guess it will be the end of the decade before I consider replacing my M1 Mac Mini.

 

[uburoibob]

I got my 16GB/2TB Mac mini in Dec 2020, having come from a late 2013 iMac. I'd recommend you max at least the RAM to keep up with Apple's offerings for the next 5 years or so. I run the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, as well as FinalCut and Logic - all without a burp or stumble. External SSDs are fast and with the USB C/Thunderbolt IR available, is quite fast and reliable, so you could probably be fine with the 512GB internal drive. I am running an LG 3440x1440 monitor (LG 34UC88-B 34" UW-QHD 75Hz) and it's a great little setup.

 

[Boil]

I am looking to replace my 2011 Imac with an M1 Mini and a 27" monitor because I'm retired and my needs are pretty simple now. I will start out with a wired keyboard and mouse ( since I have them already) and just the 27" monitor. I will probably go for the 8Gb/512Gb version. For a basic setup is the current crop of M1 Mini's reliable? I appreciate your comments.

I would wait to see what a possible October Mac Event might bring...

 

[TechRunner]

Got mine in November of 2020 (8/256 with 24" 2K monitor) for basic use (writing/blogging, basic photo editing) and it's been rock solid since.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I suggest you do the research here and elsewhere on monitors…particularly 27" 4K monitors. I'm looking at new monitors and would get a 1440p monitor for my incoming Mac Studio.

A couple of threads:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-is-your-mac-studio-handling-4k-display-scaling.2348630/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/recommendations-for-extra-display-for-m1-macbook.2358227/

EDIT: I did NOT get a 1440p. Ended up getting an inexpensive LG 4K monitor.

 

[Fishrrman]

I would NOT buy an m1 Mini now.

I WOULD wait about 30-60 more days, with the expectation that the m2 Mini is coming soon.

All rumors seem to "point towards" that happening.

Over the years, Apple seems to have introduced new Minis in the mid/late October time frame. That's only 30 days away.

Can you wait a little longer?

My prediction is ... if you buy an m1 Mini today... by the end of the year, you're going to be unhappy.

 

[Sonoran49]

I would NOT buy an m1 Mini now.

I WOULD wait about 30-60 more days, with the expectation that the m2 Mini is coming soon.

All rumors seem to "point towards" that happening.

Over the years, Apple seems to have introduced new Minis in the mid/late October time frame. That's only 30 days away.

Can you wait a little longer?

My prediction is ... if you buy an m1 Mini today... by the end of the year, you're going to be unhappy.

Thank you. I wasn't planning on getting it right away, but I did think that we would have heard about an M2 in August. I am waiting to see if an M2 will be announced in October. As I mentioned in my post my "need for speed /power" is not what it used to be since retiring. An upgraded M1 would be nice though.

 

[Micky Do]

I would NOT buy an m1 Mini now.

I WOULD wait about 30-60 more days, with the expectation that the m2 Mini is coming soon.

All rumors seem to "point towards" that happening.

Over the years, Apple seems to have introduced new Minis in the mid/late October time frame. That's only 30 days away.

Can you wait a little longer?

My prediction is ... if you buy an m1 Mini today... by the end of the year, you're going to be unhappy.

SHHH….. please don’t shout

Over the years, Apple has in fact released new Mac Minis in January, February, March, June, July, August, September and November.

All rumours have pointed to all sorts of things happening, occasionally correctly, more often not.

My prediction is……. If you buy a new Mac Mini when you need one, you will be happy.

 

[gradi]

When/if there is a new Mac Mini with an M2, M1 Pro, or something else, I suggest you give thought to what you use the computer for. That will clarify in your mind whether a new, almost surely higher priced one is worth it compared to the current M1 Mac Mini. Considering the price of the M2 MBP and M2 MBA I think that if a new M2 Mac Mini comes out in the same case with basically just an upgrade from M1 to M2 that there will be a $200 price increase. For some people the slightly faster CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, and RAM will be useful, but for lots of people those things will likely not even be noticeable.

I carefully thought about my usage and decided to buy an M1 Mac Mini 16gb/512gb + external 2tb SSD several months ago.

Considering my computer use I figured out that the M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra offered no benefit for me. All the M1 series have the same CPU single core speed so little to no difference in using Lightroom Classic. Having 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores seems to be working well for me. I just do one photo export at a time so exports are already fast. The exports can make use of the GPU and the 8 core GPU seems to work very well.

I sometimes use Topaz programs and the interactive use and exports are fast with M1. Topaz uses the Neural Engine and the M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max all have the same 16 core Neural Engine so they are all about the same speed. I just process one photo at a time, not batches.

The M1 has the 8 core CPU/8 core GPU and 8 core CPU/7 core GPU versions, but the M1 Mac Mini only offers the 8/8 version. The M2 has the 8 core CPU/10 core GPU and 8 core CPU/8 core GPU versions. Maybe if there is an M2 Mac Mini it will only have the 8/10 version. Assuming Apple just replaces the M1 with the M2 and uses the same case, same ports, etc. then judging by the M2 MBP and M2 MBA the price will likely be $200 more.

Lightroom Classic and Topaz already run fast enough on my M1 so any small increase in speed with M2 would not gain me anything and almost surely not even be noticeable.

Here is the basic info for the current Apple Silicon SoCs:

M2 8-core (4P/4E) 8-core 16-core 100GB/s 8GB / 16GB / 24GB
M2 8-core (4P/4E) 10-core 16-core 100GB/s 8GB / 16GB / 24GB

The M2 CPU/GPU cores are faster than the M1 family CPU/GPU cores and the M2 Neural Engine is faster than the M1 Neural Engine. M2 memory is also faster than the base M1 memory.

 

[scottrngr]

I'd watch the refurbs on the Apple website, and get one of those for at least $150 off new. I do agree with getting 16 gigs of ram as well.

 

[steve217]

I have enjoyed reading these posts and threads about the Mini and I have learned a lot. I realize that many posts are asking for help with issues people are having with their Mini's, monitors, etc. That's why this forum exists.

I am looking to replace my 2011 Imac with an M1 Mini and a 27" monitor because I'm retired and my needs are pretty simple now. I will start out with a wired keyboard and mouse ( since I have them already) and just the 27" monitor. I will probably go for the 8Gb/512Gb version. For a basic setup is the current crop of M1 Mini's reliable? I appreciate your comments.

The 8Gb/512 version is a very nice Mini. It's a good choice for a general purpose computer. Very fast and at refurb prices (~$750) a very good value.

I have the most base Mini (8Gb/256GB) model and it serves me very well. I use it for Office, Teams (work), multiple-browsers (Safari, FF, Brave, Edge), plus all the other Apple apps.

I never have any moments where I wish the machine were faster.

 

[Burai]

SHHH….. please don’t shout

Over the years, Apple has in fact released new Mac Minis in January, February, March, June, July, August, September and November.

All rumours have pointed to all sorts of things happening, occasionally correctly, more often not.

My prediction is……. If you buy a new Mac Mini when you need one, you will be happy.

Unless you buy one just before new models come out, at which point you will get buyer's remorse if you can't return it.

If I absolutely had to buy right now, I'd be looking at refurbs, used machines or reseller discounts because I wouldn't feel comfortable paying full price for a two year old machine that's going to be replaced sooner rather than later.

 

[pshufd]

There was a local seller of a base M1 mini for $350 in my area though he was in a relatively rural part of our state. It took about 3 weeks to sell. There's another one at https://hartford.craigslist.org/sys/d/vernon-rockville-2021-mac-mini-250gb-m1/7533433685.html

Most are asking $475 - $500 for used base minis. The implication is that people are starting to wait for the M2 mini.

I have a 16/512 and I'm fairly amazed at what it can handle. My current setup is the mini and a 2014 iMac 27 with 32 GB of RAM. I tried the mini with 3x4k monitors and 1 QHD display and it all worked nicely. I thought that I'd swap because of memory issues but Monterey compressed enough RAM so that I didn't have any swap. I wasn't running as much as I normally do though. So Monterey has tricks to make your RAM seem bigger than it actually is.

I think that the base model is amazing in what it can do and I've heard this from people that have them including one that ran his YouTube channel off of it before recently upgrading to the M2 Air with 16 GB of RAM. What I've heard is that 8 GB is fine for most people but performance can fall off a cliff when you hit a certain point of demand.

My wife is running off a base 2018 mini and I ask her regularly if she'd like an upgrade and she has said no for the past couple of years. She's more of casual user.

 

[Think77]

For a basic setup is the current crop of M1 Mini's reliable? I appreciate your comments.

Yes! Even for advanced use, the base M1 Mini is rock solid. I've used it for music production since 01/2021 and never had a problem. It's only when you really push it (like trying to edit 4K videos or loading too many sample libraries in Logic) that it starts to show its limitations. That's why I'm looking at upgrading to a new Mini M2 or the Studio. But for basic work, there's no way you can go wrong with the M1 Mini. Oh, and it's absolutely dead silent as well, no matter what you throw at it.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I have enjoyed reading these posts and threads about the Mini and I have learned a lot. I realize that many posts are asking for help with issues people are having with their Mini's, monitors, etc. That's why this forum exists.

I am looking to replace my 2011 Imac with an M1 Mini and a 27" monitor because I'm retired and my needs are pretty simple now. I will start out with a wired keyboard and mouse ( since I have them already) and just the 27" monitor. I will probably go for the 8Gb/512Gb version. For a basic setup is the current crop of M1 Mini's reliable? I appreciate your comments.

It cost about 70~75$ of parts to convert your iMac 27" 2011 to a monitor with HDMI & DP inputs.

 

[Starfia]

I've been burning to buy an M1 Mac mini even for my more intensive media-related uses – the benchmarks and testimonials seem to make clear it would be a noticeable upgrade from my 2017 iMac (let far alone the Mac mini I was running in 2011), so I think there's no doubt it would be more than sufficient for you too. Like others here, I'm restraining myself until after the announcements of an evident October event, though I've been noting and appreciating that street prices for M1 machines are typically appreciably below retail prices now, and I imagine that gap will only increase after such announcements.

 

[pshufd]

I've been burning to buy an M1 Mac mini even for my more intensive media-related uses – the benchmarks and testimonials seem to make clear it would be a noticeable upgrade from my 2017 iMac (let far alone the Mac mini I was running in 2011), so I think there's no doubt it would be more than sufficient for you too. Like others here, I'm restraining myself until after the announcements of an evident October event, though I've been noting and appreciating that street prices for M1 machines are typically appreciably below retail prices now, and I imagine that gap will only increase after such announcements.

I have been surprised to see base M1 minis for up to 40% below MSRP. I suspect that some folks found the 8 GB wasn't enough. There is a dearth of 16 GB models for sale in my area.

 

[Fishrrman]

pshufd commented:
"I suspect that some folks found the 8 GB wasn't enough. There is a dearth of 16 GB models for sale in my area."

Buying an m1 Mini with 8gb of RAM today...
is like
...buying a 2014 Mini with 4gb of RAM in 2017.

 

[steve217]

pshufd commented:
"I suspect that some folks found the 8 GB wasn't enough. There is a dearth of 16 GB models for sale in my area."

Buying an m1 Mini with 8gb of RAM today...
is like
...buying a 2014 Mini with 4gb of RAM in 2017.

But it’s not.

What made the 2014 4gb so dismal was the mechanical hard drive.

Recently, I handed down a 2013 4GB air to a friends daughter and his feedback was that “she’s thrilled with it and uses it all the time”.

The 2013 Air and the 2014 base mini were very similar except for the disc drive.

 

[Starfia]

I have been surprised to see base M1 minis for up to 40% below MSRP. I suspect that some folks found the 8 GB wasn't enough. There is a dearth of 16 GB models for sale in my area.

I think it's great that the low-cost barrier to own a Mac remains that low, even for M1s.

My 2011 Mac mini was entry-level with 8GB; I used it for everything and did find "the wall" when working on a complex motion graphics project, but I was able to do all sorts of audio production without much trouble. I upgraded my current 2017 iMac to 24 gigabytes of memory, but Activity Monitor shows I practically never use over 12 or so. (Useful to know now that I've been hemming between a 16GB Mac mini and a 32GB Mac Studio – I think the former would carry me well.)